Utilities, Banks, and Airlines across Europe Infected by New Ransomware Attack

Published By : 28 Jun 2017 |Published By : QYRESEARCH

A major ransomware has recently brought businesses to a halt across Europe. Experts have identified this infection as a reminiscent of WannaCry attack last month. According to report, Ukrainian businesses are damaged most severely by the attack. Furthermore, systems at central bank, municipal metro, state telecom, and Kiev’s Boryspil Airport at Ukraine are compromised with by the ransomware attack. Besides this, systems at Ukraine’s Ukrenego electricity supplier also fell vulnerable to the attack, although a spokesperson said that the power supply remain unaffected from the ransomware.

Ransomware Attack Engulfs Organizations Internationally

Operations at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant has come to a standstill post the attack. The nuclear power plant is also compelled to switch to manual radiation monitoring as a result of the ransonware attack. In addition, infections have likely spread across several isolated devices such as ATMs and point-of-sale terminals. The reports of the virus spread internationally are doing rounds as well. It was reported by a Danish shipping company that its systems went down across multiple sites. The company’s logistics arm at Russia complained getting hit by the ransomware as well. Furthermore, the virus has spread to the servers of the Russian oil company Rosneft, although the extent of damage it has caused is still unclear.

In addition, several cases in the US are recorded as well. Among these, a Pittsburgh-area hospital, Merck – a prominent pharmaceutical company, and the US law offices at law firm DLA Piper are among the most notable ones. Early reports released by a researcher from Kaspersky has identified the ransomware as a variant of Petya ransomware. However, it was clarified by the company later that it is unlikely for the virus to be an entirely new strain of ransomware. As per Kaspersky’s telemetry, nearly 2,000 users were attacked by the virus by 27th June afternoon.